“Everything was perfect—until Mom got arrested.”
—A tagline (for a book description) that I wrote last year. Really piques your interest, no?
October 2011
3 posts
I have a weakness and her name is Kelly Clarkson.
So, I’m not a big pop music person, and admittedly, if you played me the 30-second snippets of the album I just bought, I probably wouldn’t be hooked. In fact, I did hear them, and I definitely wasn’t hooked…so why did I spend the $5 anyway?
Well because it is KELLY CLARKSON, and five bucks in the name of her music is basically like high-fiving the concept of GIRL POWER.
Plus, I know that if one of the songs gets big and it turns out I want the album after all, I’ll be annoyed that I didn’t snag it on the cheap. (It’s only $5 today at Amazon.)
Kelly Clarkson grew up about 15 minutes away from me and I appreciate her putting into words some of the sentiments we obviously shared with “Breakaway.” Then “Since You’ve Been Gone” hit the charts right around the time I was going through a satisfying breakup, and I guess that was the clincher. I’ve been a fan ever since.
Not a huge fan, mind you. I bought My December because…well…I don’t even remember why. Probably just in the name of solidarity. A few songs definitely made it into my mental rotation, and, years later, “Be Still” even inspired a post on my yoga blog. But I didn’t listen to the album all that much, and when All I Ever Wanted released I didn’t even notice. I did, however, accept it as a free download from a friend several months later, and nearly a year after that, finally gave it a listen and realized it has some GEMS. Whoo-eee, gimme some of that “Already Gone”! And who among us hasn’t enjoyed pretending it’s true that “I Do Not Hook Up”?
So anyway, my point is that when I saw Amazon’s tweet about the sale price of Stronger today, my brain immediately went, “Kelly Clarkson + new music = purchase.”
I halfheartedly went through the motions of listening to the track snippets, but in doing so I realized my decision had already been made: I’m predisposed to buy Stronger, even if it sucks, which I’m sure that it doesn’t, even though I’ve only heard a collective 6.5 minutes so it’s way too soon to judge.
Regardless of what I ultimately think of the latest offering, it’s fascinating to note how blindly loyal I can be when I believe in a person—especially if that person is a positive role model with a consistent message of empowerment and has some amazing chops.
ROCK ON, KELLY!
Conversation on my corner
- Stranger sitting in front of the bodega: Am I outside or am I inside?
- Me: Outside
- Him (to person he's talking to on phone): I'm outside.
